Johannesburg — The SA20 has its Indian broadcast partner, which also happens to share ownership of one of the teams and is responsible for a major chunk of the broadcast and streaming deal signed by the IPL earlier this year.
Sports 18, which agreed to a 10-year deal with the SA20 announced on Wednesday, is owned by Viacom18, a joint venture between TV18 and American media giant Paramount. TV18 is owned by Reliance Industries, the multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, that owns the Mumbai Indians franchise, which in turn owns the MI Cape Town team which will be playing in the SA20 tournament.
“Today is a ground-breaking day for South African cricket. This long-term partnership between the SA20 and Viacom18 as our official Indian broadcaster is a catalyst that supports our ambitions to build the world’s second biggest league,” said the SA20’s commissioner Graeme Smith. “With six IPL owners expanding their brands in South Africa, Viacom18 are the perfect partner to take the SA20 into the homes of the passionate and cricket-loving Indian market.”
Viacom18 stumped up $3.05billion for the IPL’s digital package covering the Indian subcontinent, and TV and digital rights in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa. No details of the SA20 deal were made known.
“We expect significant viewership and fan engagement as the event will be played in prime time,” Viacom18 Sports chief executive Anil Jayaraj said.
Viacom18’s sports portfolio includes ATP tennis, the NBA, Ligue 1, Serie A, La Liga while it also recently acquired the Indian rights to broadcast the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
The announcement of a broadcast partner in India, marks an important milestone for the SA20, and provides a key element that neither its predecessors, the T20 Global League or the Mzansi Super League had.
The SA20 features six teams, based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, Centurion and Paarl.
The competition is viewed as essential to the future of the sport in South Africa, with the investment from Indian owners and SuperSport, totalling almost $240million having been made already. Broadcaster SuperSport has already invested nearly $90m in the venture, while the new owners poured in about $150m to purchase the franchises
The tournament will start on 10 January next year.
IOL Sport